Karim al-Afnan

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On August 28, President Bashar al-Assad approved a new media
law that purportedly upholds freedom of expression and bans the arrest of
journalists. Yet less than a week later, on Saturday, a Syrian journalist and
contributor to the pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat was arrested, CPJ reported.
Just two days before the endorsement of
the law, Syrian cartoonist Ali Ferzat was brutally attacked by masked assailants. A close look at the legislation, Decree No. 108,
suggests the Assad regime is simply paying lip service to reform.

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New York, September 6, 2011--The
Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by Saturday's arrest of a Syrian
journalist without charge and the continued reports of missing journalists in
Syria.

Amer Matar, contributor to the pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat, was arrested by Syrian security forces in Damascus on Saturday, the Guardian of London reported. Matar, who is also a political activist, has worked with youth groups in Syria calling for peaceful anti-regime demonstrations and has called for demonstrations on his Facebook page. Before his arrest, he emailed his friend, Karim al-Afnan, a Syrian journalist banned from Syria, a copy of his will and said, "I may not come back from Friday prayers."